1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated management system for automatically controlling, inspecting and operating multiple air conditioners.
2. Background of the Related Art
Air conditioner systems are now used in most buildings and homes. For example, one type of air conditioner system includes indoor units disposed in each room at a home or each office in a building, and an outdoor unit shared by and connected to the indoor units. Thus, there are multiple air conditioner components included in an air conditioner system. Further, in larger homes and buildings, there are often multiple air conditioner systems provided throughout the homes and buildings.
The multiple air conditioners are controlled so that they maintain rooms at a particular temperature. For example, during the summer months, the multiple air conditioners may be controlled to maintain a room at a temperature of 70 degrees. However, because the air conditioner systems include many components (indoor units, outdoor units, pipes connected the different units, etc.), the multiple air conditioner systems must be maintained and repaired.
Currently, the inspection and repair of components is performed once every year, etc. In many home environments, the air conditioner system may never be inspected, and is only repaired when the home owner discovers the air conditioner system is not working properly. In buildings, the air conditioner system is generally manually inspected by an engineer once a year, for example. Further, when an employee or other personnel in the building notices their respective room is not being maintained within the desired temperature, the person contacts the engineer or manager of the building, who then comes to the respective room to determine why the air conditioner system is not working properly (e.g., the vent is closed, the indoor air conditioner unit is not working properly, etc.). This manual process is time consuming and inefficient.
Further, the maintenance is often manually recorded in a log book or on a computer. This manual maintenance procedure is often time consuming and includes inaccurate data (e.g., the engineer accidentally inputs the wrong date, room number, part number, etc. into the log book).